(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., AP) — Missouri lawmakers, who over the years have voted to honor a state dinosaur (the hadrosaur), state exercise (jumping jacks) and state dessert (the ice cream cone), are considering clamping down on the state’s laundry list of official symbols. A measure up for…

By ROB CURRY (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — Warrensburg Main Street will welcome local ladies as they raise their bidding paddles for jewelry, gifts, tickets and more Friday. Lotspeich Automotive will host the sold-out Piccadilly Gala Friday at 150 NW U.S 50. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the…

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and PAUL SCHEMM (TUNIS, Tunisia, AP) — It was a flood of messages from concerned friends abroad that alerted the president of Tunisia’s Star Wars fan club that the sets of his beloved film were under attack by militants — at least according to…

By MARTHA WAGGONER (CHEROKEE, N.C., AP) — Kevin Tafoya grew up hearing Cherokee all around him — his mother, a grandmother and grandfather, aunts and an uncle all spoke the language that now is teetering on the edge of extinction. Yet his mother purposely didn’t teach him.…

(NEW YORK, AP) — Christie’s auction house has announced it will offer a 1955 masterpiece by Pablo Picasso for an estimated $140 million. “Women of Algiers (Version O)” will hit the auction block on May 11. The vibrantly colorful work features a scantily attired female amid smaller…

The fourth annual Old Drum Day Festival is set for April 11 on the grounds, streets and around the Johnson County Historical Society at 302 N. Main St. The festival is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors are invited to bring their dogs as the festival kicks off with the Old…

The Associated Press St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 13 If big-name football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer stars can be wooed with multiyear, many-multimillion-dollar contracts, then why not…